Try using a dry cast iron pan with a little salt sprinkled on it. Obviously, use less salt on the steak.

Let the steak come to room temperature..

Open all doors and windows around your stove-kitchen area, heat up until pan starts smoking, throw on a pan for 5 minutes or so. Flip. Another 5 mins on the pan. Remove and place on a warm plate and tightly cover with foil. Let sit for 10 mins or so.

Drink a cocktail and reflect on your day.

Sit down and eat your steak.

Good advice, this is what I do. I tend to use a thin layer of olive oil and a whole lot of fresh ground pepper on the steak, instead of just a layer of salt on the pan. Heat cast iron until you can no longer see through the haze, toss it on, and I want to say I only let it cook 2.5-3 minutes.....could be wrong, though. And do not move the steak around!

The reason you see that is because if you use a pan first (I'll only use a cast-iron if I don't need a pan sauce) using a pan sears the outside, but it won't cook the inside. An oven, though, will, hence the term searing.

The pan will cook the outside, and the oven will cook the inside of the steak.

You'll need to do this if you're going to prepare something like a filet or a bone-in rib-eye.

You don't need to do that to cook a steak, but you do need to do it if you don't want the outside to be well done. Cooking it in the oven does it more evenly whereas leaving it on the pan/grill surface heat for long enough to cook the center means that the outside will be more done than some people like. Personally I like a good crust so I don't bother with the oven step.

You don't need to do that to cook a steak, but you do need to do it if you don't want the outside to be well done. Cooking it in the oven does it more evenly whereas leaving it on the pan/grill surface heat for long enough to cook the center means that the outside will be more done than some people like. Personally I like a good crust so I don't bother with the oven step.

+1. I think you need to be talking about a very thick cut of meat before you use an oven. One rib of beef would be in a pan for me, but for two, you need to use an oven. Also, if you like your steak well done you need to use the oven because it will be too crusty after the necessary time in a pan.

I don't know if this has been covered but I've always wanted to try a steak au poivre, which IIRC involves a chilled layer of butter on each side of a filet, encrusted with cracked peppercorns and salt. The steak is seared very hot, flipped quickly, and left to cook through a bit. For some reason this sounds amazing to me. I'm sure it will smoke up my place pretty bad though.

^^^ I learned to make Steak au Poivre by crushing black pepper under a frying pan, salting a NY steak and then pressing the pepper into it. From there you cook the steak in a pan with half butter and half oil until done, remove the steak and toss out the fat leaving the meat juices in the pan. Add a tablespoon or two of cognac and ignite. When the flame dies down, add equal parts cream and veal stock and reduce, scraping the pan juices until thickened. From there either pour it over the steak, or add a little butter to the sauce and pour over the steak. I have not seen the recipe you mention, but it does sound good.

FWIW, when preparing Steak au Poivre I prefer to use green peppercorns rather than black. Since they are soft, they don't have the tendency to get stuck in your teeth and they are easier to eat. The teeth thing is important if you are cooking for a girl and don't want to look at funky black shit between her teeth, nor worry if she is looking at it between yours. In this case you add them to the sauce, rather than the steak.

I looked up the au poivre recipe I was thinking of and it calls for one side being encrusted by spreading soft butter on it then smushing it into a bed of cracked peppercorns, then refrigerating. I'm not clear on how the cooking goes down after that, but it would seem logical that it would go butter side down on a hot skillet. It also mentioned that it was usually a strip steak. I'll definitely have to try this soon and report back.

Alton Brown's cooking times are a little low, I think. WSJ had a feature a few months ago about how to do a steakhouse steak at home. Quick summary: 1. let steak rest at room temp for 1-2 hours (if it's too cold it won't cook evenly) 2. salt/pepper meat (or use dry rub -- try one with ground coffee) 3. a little canola oil in pan 4. sear each side for 2 minutes in cast iron pan on medium high heat, turn with TONGS not fork 5. transfer to 400 deg oven for 6-8 mins (less if meat is thin) 6. let steak rest for 5-10 mins Most steakhouses use double broilers (open oven with flames on both sides), so that sears and broils the meat at the same time. WSJ article raved about Costco meat, but I find their steaks bland. Whole Foods steak was much much better (and twice the cost). Next I'll try wet or dry aged steaks from butcher shops and good grocery stores.

Cooking times for steaks are not always accurate. There are just waaay too many varibles; oven, steak type, size, weight, length etc. Only way to know its doneness other than cutting into it is by touching it. And greg_atlanta, double broiler oven? I'm having a hard time picturing that, can you get a picture somehow?

Classic au poive uses white peppercorns, or a mixture of white and black. The butter paste is a waste of time and interferes with the flavor, IMO. All you need to do is grind the corns in a mortar & pestal, spread them out on a plate, dredge the steak in them, and then press them into the meat with your palm, hard. Leaving the steak to sit a while helps the pepper flavor the meat.

Butter & oil (half & half) works best, butter for flavor, oil because it takes the heat better. A non poive pan seared steak can and should be cooked on a hot pan, no butter or oil. Try that with poive, and the peppercorns will burn and maybe pop into your eyes and blind you.

Classic au poive uses white peppercorns, or a mixture of white and black.

I didn't know that, but white makes sense, if only for aesthetic reasons.

We had an old San Francisco night last night. Drinks at Tosca, steak (my wife had au Poivre) at Alfred's and ice cream at Swensens . Only thing better would have been if the Blue Fox was still there, instead of Alfred's. It got me in the mood, I think I am going to have lunch at Swan Oyster Depot on Monday.